October 19, 2023: STiR Education marked a significant milestone on October 19, 2023, with the official launch of its Ethiopia programme. Hosted in Addis Ababa, the launch brought together representatives from the Ministry of Education, South Ethiopia Education Bureau, development partners, and other partners including The Luminos Fund, International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa – UNESCO, British Council, and the Ethiopian Teachers’ Association.
The event commenced with keynote addresses from the Teachers’ Development Programme representative and the President of the Ethiopian Teachers’ Association. Both emphasised the critical role of intrinsic motivation in addressing educational challenges, including low pass rates and teacher retention. The Ministry representative expressed support for STiR’s programme, underscoring its timeliness and the Ministry’s commitment to collaboration. Other stakeholders from the region offered valuable feedback, highlighting the importance of such programmes and addressing challenges, particularly in peer learning.
The discussion tackled key questions on programme alignment, ownership, gender responsiveness and collaboration opportunities. Participants advocated for regular review meetings, robust monitoring and evaluation, sustainability planning and alignment with government policies.
The launch received strong support from the Ministry down to the zone levels, showcasing a commitment to the collaboration. STiR is committed to work closely with them to support existing woredas and identify new ones. Some of the immediate steps of the programme include refining monitoring and evaluation plans, conducting a baseline study and exploring collaboration opportunities with external stakeholders. Advocacy strategies are underway to integrate intrinsic motivation into the Ministry of Education’s Teacher Training and Development policy.
STiR Education signed a 5-year MOU with the Ministry of Education in June 2023 followed by the regional agreements required with the South Ethiopia region. We launched our first Learning Improvement Cycle in August 2023 in two districts (woredas) in Wolaita Zone. Our programme in Ethiopia is based around peer networks, action and feedback, and reflection, working across all primary schools in the two woredas (Sodo Zuria and Bayra Koysha). The teacher network meetings utilise existing structures of teacher working groups and are planned as part of the annual Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for teachers.
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